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A review by ablondebooknerd
Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela
3.0
Three Muslim women living in Scotland decide to go on a pilgrimage to the grave of Lady Evelyn Cobbold, the first British woman to convert to Islam and travel to Mecca. Told over the course of a week, Bird Summons dives into the lives of very different women from very different backgrounds and countries (Egypt, Sudan and Syria). These women all have their own struggles and reasons for wishing to leave their current lives behind.
I did enjoy reading these women’s inner thoughts but I found the way the story jumps from character to character within a single chapter to be a bit disorienting. It felt like I was watching a tennis match but with three people and was constantly being lobbed from woman to woman. Sometimes it would be from one character’s perspective for a page or two and sometimes the perspective would only last one paragraph before jumping to the next character.
After reading the Author’s Note at the end, the book made a lot more sense to me. I was not familiar with the Hoopoe and why this bird is so important to Islam. I think that if this section had been either moved to the front or when the Hoopoe first appears it is explained to the reader what the bird is and signifies then what happens later in the book would make more sense.
This book despite being a bit hard to follow was very interesting and allows the reader to peak into the lives over different Muslim women.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I did enjoy reading these women’s inner thoughts but I found the way the story jumps from character to character within a single chapter to be a bit disorienting. It felt like I was watching a tennis match but with three people and was constantly being lobbed from woman to woman. Sometimes it would be from one character’s perspective for a page or two and sometimes the perspective would only last one paragraph before jumping to the next character.
After reading the Author’s Note at the end, the book made a lot more sense to me. I was not familiar with the Hoopoe and why this bird is so important to Islam. I think that if this section had been either moved to the front or when the Hoopoe first appears it is explained to the reader what the bird is and signifies then what happens later in the book would make more sense.
This book despite being a bit hard to follow was very interesting and allows the reader to peak into the lives over different Muslim women.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.